Improved Bruins still need to work on rebounding

Washington State forward Brock Motum, left, knocks the ball from the hands of UCLA forward Travis Wear as both go for a rebound during Saturday's game. MARK J. TERRILL, AP

LOS ANGELES – UCLA coach Ben Howland thumbed intently through a stat book Tuesday, listing off statistics he felt showed the improvements his team has made since the beginning of the season, when the Bruins showed their inexperience on a nightly basis.

UCLA is best in the conference at taking care of the ball, the coach said. And UCLA has had the second-best field goal percentage defense in the Pac-12 since the new year began.

But on the final page, Howland was reminded of the one stat that has plagued the Bruins' conference run.

"If we're going to have a chance to win this conference," Howland said, "we're not going to win it continuing on the path we're on from a rebounding standpoint. ... What's alarming and what's been alarming for us for a while now, we've just got to somehow figure out our rebounding margin."

The Bruins are last in the conference in rebounding margin, but advanced statistics tell an even more damning tale. They're last in offensive rebounding percentage defense by a wide margin.

"This is one of the poorest rebounding teams, if not the poorest rebounding team, I've had in my tenure," Howland said on the Pac-12 coaches call.

Still, the Bruins are tied for first in the conference, having made up for their rebounding deficiencies in other ways. But among coach and players, there's an undeniable, sneaking feeling that those problems on the glass will soon come back to bite them. But with so much work already put into improving their rebounding, how can the Bruins bounce back?

Forward Travis Wear isn't sure. As one of the best offensive rebounders in the conference last season – ranking second in offensive rebounding percentage – Wear is now one of the worst. UCLA also hasn't gotten much help out of its guards on the defensive end, as the Bruins' starting guards have accounted for just 28 percent of the team's defensive boards.

A refocused effort on the glass could include a change in the team's transition-heavy game, which Howland and players have agreed has hampered their rebounding efforts. It's an issue that has clearly perplexed the long-time coach.

"Because we've been so heavy on transition, that's been part of our issue because guys are so anxious to get out and get going that they're not rebounding," Howland said. "I think about this all the time. I'm alone in my thoughts constantly about this stuff. It's a tradeoff. We're a much better transition team, but we don't have Kevin Love rebounding for us."

SOCIAL CHANGES

Five years ago, Howland said, he never would have been forced to answer questions about a player's lack of celebration, as he did after the social media frenzy surrounding Shabazz Muhammad's cavalier response to Larry Drew II's buzzer-beater last Thursday.

The ever-changing world of social media hasn't necessarily made Howland's job more difficult, he said, just different. Now, he fully expects issues to arise as they did last Thursday or when Muhammad was under scrutiny for wearing a Gucci backpack a few weeks ago.

"In this town with the Clippers and the Lakers our players are more closely treated like a pro than a college player in how they're perceived," Howland said.

And Muhammad, who has endured the blessing and curse of being the nation's top overall recruit, knows that world better than most already.

"When you're a big player and you're in the limelight a lot of times, you've got to expect that," Muhammad said. "I knew it was going to happen. We're in LA. We're in Hollywood."

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